Design Innovation: The Chroma Story

Q&A with Kelly Alders, Senior Designer.

We were intrigued by the shift in furniture, interior architecture and fashion towards metals with a more textured finish and deep, rich tones.

What happened next?

We researched lots of metallic effects, ceramic glazes and decorative rust finishes looking at how pigments had merged and dispersed together to create lots of tonal movement and texture.

How did Chroma develop from this?

We discovered how to capture the bold oxidised qualities found in these manipulated metals and then used our print expertise to enhance this and highlight the details. It was about exploring the printing itself and how we could emulate these qualities as closely as possible to create an illusion of depth in the product.

Was this all created digitally?

We created initial exploration artworks by hand. This helped us capture the natural movement created by dripping and spraying paint and using beautiful inks to layer tone and movement across mixed materials. We then used hand-drawn surface pattern techniques to create the intensely detailed designs.

How do you see Chroma being used?

Chroma has this fantastic bold graphic texture which means you can use it entirely on its own to give a space a really dramatic look or you can use it as a highlight within simpler product – it’s a really exciting addition to the Signature Collection.

Chroma has this fantastic bold graphic texture which means you can use it entirely on its own to give a space a really dramatic look or you can use it as a highlight within simpler product – it’s a really exciting addition to the Signature Collection.